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Any employer who is not prominently displaying a GINA Non-Discrimination poster is in violation of the law.

Effective Nov. 21, 2009 the GINA mandatory posting requirement went into effect, meaning that employers can be fined or penalized for not complying.

Under Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, employers are prohibited from gathering information regarding an employee’s genetic predisposition for disease. This includes querying an employee before or after hiring about a family history of heart disease or cancer, just to cite one example.

This law does not cover lifestyle issues such as smoking, drinking alcohol, handgun ownership or use of seat belts.

GINA was signed into law by then-president George W. Bush on May 21, 2008. The law primarily addresses genetic discrimination by by health insurance companies. It addresses a fear that, for example, a health insurance provider might refuse coverage to a healthy individual, merely because his father and grandfather died of heart attacks.

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act prohibits insurance companies and employers from discriminating on the basis of information obtained through genetic testing. With more than 40 genetic tests for various health conditions available, the fear (more…)

 Employers should be aware that GINA imposes even more stringent confidentiality laws than HIPAA does, regarding genetic information and an employee’s family medical history.

On November 21, 2009, Title II of GINA, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, will go into effect. This portion of the law prohibits employees from discrimination against an individual based on genetic testing. Title I of the law, which went into effect in May 2009, prohibits health insurance providers from discrimination against an individual based on genetic testing.

For example, a health insurance company could not refuse to cover an individual because he or she had a genetic predisposition for breast cancer, diabetes or heart disease. Nor could an employer refuse to hire an employee, based on that genetic information. In fact, it would be a violation of the law for the employer to even acquire information about an employee’s genetic profile.

More than 13 years in the making, GINA was signed into law by President George W. Bush on May 21, 2008.  The law was passed partly out of concern that individuals were refusing genetic testing, which might have improved their health care, because they feared discrimination from employers or health insurance providers.

The EEOC recently released GINA guidelines for employers to be in compliance with this new law.

Under Title II, GINA prohibits employers from intentionally (more…)